


Reid jr.

by Detroitbecomevenom



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: its a little angsty, reader is spencer's kid, season 12 reid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:15:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27483319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Detroitbecomevenom/pseuds/Detroitbecomevenom
Summary: spencer reid’s eleven-year-old daughter deals with him going to prison…
Relationships: Spencer Reid & Reader
Kudos: 8





	1. Ignorance is Bliss

Y/n Reid’s life was anything but perfect from an outsider’s perspective. She lived in an apartment with her dad that was more often than not in another state for work and recently, her grandmother that was convinced that every caretaker was out to get them. She did have an extended family of aunts and uncles that worked with her dad, who loved her like their own child. Sometimes, things could get hard, but she loved her life no matter how far from normal it was.

She was far from being normal as well if you think about it. She may not have inherited the full “Spencer Reid Genius Experience” as Garcia called it, but she was considered to be a genius when it came to any type of problem that required numbers or math. The eidetic memory only applied when it had something to do with numbers, so it usually surprised people to hear that although she was acing college-level math courses at 11, she was placed in the remedial English class with a bunch of other kids that were her own age. She often compared herself to Reid when he was her age and felt bad that she wasn’t living up to his expectations.

Currently, she sat that very English class and barely listened to the words of the teacher. They were in the middle of reading some book she couldn’t remember the name of and he was going over their previous assignment. Mr. Wadsworth, the bane of her existence, was the exact type of teacher that would call students out for them to read their work to the class and today was no different. “As we all know, our main character has a bit of a rough relationship with his son. Your assignment was to write an essay about the last time you got into an argument with one of your parents and we’ll analyze each point of view from a third party’s perspective.”

Y/n absolutely despised that essay. She rarely got into arguments with her dad, but all she could think of was their opposing point of views of bringing Diana home to stay with them. She didn’t want her personal life to be so open, but she ended up having to write about it anyway. Not everyone’s essay will be presented for the class, but she knew that hers was too interesting for him to pass it up.

He would have you present your dilemma and the class was allowed to ask you questions and have a discussion about each side. Y/n already knew that her personal business would be thoroughly discussed by the class in the matter of minutes.“I only chose a few that would really spark up a dialogue. We can start with,” he flipped through the small stack in his hands, “Raymond.” She was relieved, but that didn’t mean she was off the hook. Raymond’s essay was as normal as she expected, him wanting to have his best friend that happened to be a girl sleep over and his parents saying no. The class decision was that his parents were in the wrong.

Next up was Chip, who got his ATV privileges taken away by his mother because he got into an accident that he definitely caused. The class was on the side of his mother for that one.

“And our last unwilling participant will be Y/n. I made sure that we had plenty of time for her essay,” he smiled as she walked to the front of the class and took her essay. She sat on the stool that was used for presenting.

“So, my last argument with my dad was about my grandmother. Um, she has a few mental health issues and she’s been getting treatment at this special place in Houston, rather than where she was staying in Las Vegas before. He thought that it would be better for her if she came home and lived with us instead and I said that it wasn’t a good idea,” she looked away from her paper and up at the class that seems to be hanging on her every word.

That look was the go-ahead for questions. Hands shot up from across the room, most likely preparing questions that would delve a little too deep into her life and struggles. She pointed to the first person she could see, “How serious is the condition?”

She figured that would be one of the first questions, “Well, she had schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s and it really depends on the day if she’s going to be difficult to handle. He used to take care of her, but it’s a lot more serious than it was when he was younger.”

There were nods across the room and the hands went up again. “Is he taking a break from his job to help take care of her? I know you’ve told me that he was away a lot.” That was true, Y/n was unusually popular with the girls in her school despite her intelligence. She thinks that they saw her as someone who could help them with their homework, but that didn’t matter as long as she had companionship.

“He’s still working, but we have a really nice caretaker that stays when he’s away.” She wasn’t about to mention the incident with the first caretaker that he hired and the time she spent helping him dry out books that were soaked in water. She liked Cassie, at least for the short amount that he actually saw her. When her dad was on cases, she would usually stay with Garcia or Will, and right now was no different. 

A few more questions were asked and discussed, taking around twenty minutes. “Alright, it seems that everyone has taken a side. Who agrees that Y/n was right in her thinking that it was a bad idea?” Half the class raised their hands, most of them being students that personally knew Y/n and her whole situation. 

“Who believes that Dr. Reid was right?” The other half of the class raised their hands, a few not getting on either side. Y/n got to sit back down as he started to go on about relationships between parents and children. She tuned out of the conversation and began to think more about her whole situation.

Was she really wrong about it all? Her dad seemed like he got everything under control, but she wasn’t going to act like she didn’t see the red mark on his face the other day. It wasn’t because he was clumsy, she knew that much. She also saw when Diana didn’t even remember who Spencer was at all. 

Before she even knew it, the bell rang that signaled the end of the school day. Y/n grabbed her bag and walked out of the classroom. “Do you need a ride home?” Beth, one of her closest friends, caught up to her in the hallway.

“I’m okay, my aunt is picking me up,” her aunt being Garcia. They planned on having a girl’s night where Y/n was finally gonna be shown movies that were on Garcia’s essential viewing list. She wasn’t sure what was on that list, but she was excited.

~~~

Penelope Garcia paced around the desks in the bullpen of the BAU. She earned concerned looks from JJ, who was holding back her instinct to pace around in anxiety. “How am I supposed to keep this a secret from Y/n?” She had a half hour before she had to pick the girl up from school and she wasn’t sure if she could keep the fact that her father was arrested for murder from her.

“How about you bring her here and we can tell her together? It’s better if she hears it from us than anyone else first.” JJ was right, as always. All Garcia needed to do was stay calm for one drive and then she’ll be fine. Well, not fine, but better without this secret on her chest. 

The car ride from Y/n’s school back to Quantico was quiet. There was some small talk, but nothing more than that. Y/n assumed that it was some sort of case that was bothering her and didn’t want to press any harder. She liked going into the office and seeing whatever new crazy things that Garcia found to put in her lair, but this ride made her nervous.

JJ greeted the two and led them into Garcia’s office for privacy. “Y/n…your dad was arrested yesterday,” she got down to the point right away, knowing that no amount of pandering could soften the blow. Y/n’s face dropped and her eyes seemed to get wet. “We know he’s being framed, but there’s a lot that’s out of our hands right now. We’re trying the best that we can to help him out of this mess.”

Y/n could barely look up at JJ, falling into Garcia’s arms. She didn’t want to believe any of it, but she knew that they would never joke about something like this. “Is he…okay?” she whispered through her tears.

“He’s slowly getting his memory back, but he’s going to be okay.” JJ hated the fact that she had to explain this to an 11-year-old. Even if she was a bit smarter than the average kid her age, it was still something she wouldn’t want to tell a child. 

Her phone buzzed, the screen showed that it was Emily bringing Reid up to get his things from his desk before he went to the local jail. She absolutely couldn’t let Y/n see her dad in handcuffs, that’s where she drew the line of child trauma. “Garcia, we got some new information on a new case.” She wiped Y/n’s eyes with her hand, “Will you be okay in here for a little bit?” The girl nodded and sniffled.

As difficult as it was to lock the door behind them, JJ knew that she was doing the right thing. She was right there with Jack when Hotch was arrested and she knew how much of an effect that had on him and Y/n was younger than him. Garcia turned to her, confused. “Spence is here. They brought him to get stuff from his desk, but I don’t want Y/n seeing that. It’s too much for her,” They walked together into the front of the BAU office and waited for the elevator to open with the rest of the team. Tara and Stephen joined them.

Garcia considered staying with Y/n and not seeing her boy wonder in the situation that he was. Her longing to see him in another light that wasn’t his mugshot pushed her to stay where she was. The ring of the elevator was deafening. The doors opened to reveal the very exhausted Reid, along with Emily, Luke, and Rossi.

Hugs were exchanged and Reid looked through his desk while JJ met with Emily. “We told Y/n. She was already supposed to be with Garcia and I thought it was better if she heard it directly and not in the news or anything.”

Emily could barely function. Reid had been so preoccupied with his mother that he didn’t even mention his daughter. She was so self-sufficient that he never had to really worry about her. That didn’t mean that he didn’t love her, though, he loved to try and out-brag about his kid with Hotch when he was still on the team. It’s no wonder that she turned out to be so much like him. “Is she here?”

JJ nodded, “She’s in Garcia’s office.”

“Is she doing okay?” Emily knew how stupid of a question that was. How could anyone possibly be okay with everything going on? She glanced at Reid, who was doing everything in slow motion. “She can stay with me until the arraignment if Garcia can’t handle it. If were not as lucky, we’ll figure something out for her. I don’t want her ripped away from any of us.”

At another glance, he was staring hopelessly at a framed photo. She knew all too well that photo was. Rossi insisted that he cook an extravagant Italian meal for Y/n’s eleventh birthday and he invited friends and family of the BAU to come. It was a huge party, both kids and adults having a good time. The picture was taken at the end of the party when Y/n was fast asleep on Spencer’s lap.

Emily walked up to him a placed a hand on his back. “She’s going home with Garcia tonight. We’re going to get you out this, Reid.” 

His head lifted, “She’s here? Does she know?”

Emily mentally slapped herself, she knew that she had to be very mindful of her words around him. “She is. And she does know.” She knew what he was going to ask next, but she hoped that there was some otherworldly being that would stop him from asking it. She may have been the unit chief, but she wasn’t as stoic as Hotch. She wasn’t going to be the one that would deny a father from seeing his daughter.

“She hates me. She wouldn’t want to see me even if I asked,” his voice was hoarse, similar to the voice that someone who was about to cry would have. This obviously was a coping mechanism for him to stop thinking about her, make himself believe that he didn’t even deserve to see her after everything. 

Maybe JJ was wrong, Emily thought, maybe seeing Y/n would bring some sense of normalcy for Spencer and help jog his memory. No, she had to think of Y/n first. If there was a book of traumatic things for a child to go through, seeing your parent getting arrested was probably in the top ten. “She’ll never hate you, Spencer. Y/n’s a smart kid, she knows that we will figure this all out soon,” she hoped that what she was saying was true.

Minutes later, Emily was making her way back to the SUV to bring Reid to the federal jail. The rest of the bau also prepared to leave to get some much-needed rest before they got themselves knee deep in some files to try to clear their friend’s name. Garcia took Y/n’s hand and they walked out together. She always kept spare clothes for the girl at her apartment just in case she needed to spend the night and didn’t have access to her own apartment. 

Y/n seemed like she was in a state of denial. The crying stopped and she just did everything very quietly, Penelope would talk to her in the morning. Right now, it was getting late and she needed to be a responsible godparent and put her to bed.

Reid, who leaned against the outside of the SUV while they waited for their driver to come and unlock the doors, watched while Garcia walked with his daughter through the front door of the Quantico building. As if the universe wanted to punish him more, he turned to see that Garcia’s car was a few spaces behind him. 

Garcia noticed her predicament when she turned to face the direction of her car and saw Reid and Emily standing there. She pulled Y/n aside and turned her in the opposite direction. “Do you think you might feel a little better if I carried you?” Carrying her would be the only way that she would be able to have full control over what Y/n could see.

Y/n did consider the offer but still shook her head. “I think…I’ll be okay walking across the parking lot. Just hold my hand,” she gave her a soft smile. Emily and Reid walked to the front of the car and into the shadow of the building, hoping that it was enough concealment for the pair to walk by.

Garcia noticed and started to walk hand-in-hand back to her car. They walked past the SUV with no incidents, but as already pointed out, the universe was plotting for Spencer Reid’s downfall. 

The agent that had the keys to the SUV happened to be directly behind them and as an added bonus, he was very vocal. “Alright, Reid, you breathe your last breath of fresh air yet?” He tugged on Reid’s arm and walked him right under the light of the streetlamp.

At the mention of her last name and before Penelope could fully react to the situation, Y/n turned around. Upon seeing Spencer, she started to try and pull her hand free from Penelope’s tight grasp. 

In an attempt to scoop Y/n into her arms, Penelope accidentally lost her grip and the girl started running towards her father. She called out for him. Everything happened so fast, and she wasn’t one to work well under intense pressure when it came to anything other than her computer. Spencer knelt down to Y/n’s level as she collided into him. She held onto him like she was never going to see him again, and given the circumstances, that was entirely possible. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and tell her that everything was going to be okay, but his wrists were bound together and he couldn’t lie to her. Instead, he just stayed still and quiet. “Please don’t go,” she sobbed into his shoulder.

As much as Emily didn’t want to, she came around to try and pry Y/n off of Reid. Penelope was now next to her, willing to help in any way she could. The agent seemed unbothered, annoyed even. How dare this child waste his time? Spencer realized that he needed to talk her down if there was going to be any progress in the next few minutes.

“Hey, I need you to do something for me, okay?” he felt her head nod against his shoulder. “Look at me, baby.” He only used that nickname when she was upset about something, not to patronize, but as more of a term of endearment. She leaned back to look at him, her eyes were red and puffy. “I know this is really confusing and you’re gonna feel a lot of things that you’re not used to, but I know you’re gonna get through this. When this mess is all fixed and I’m back home, we’ll go wherever you want in the world. You name it and we’re there.”

Spencer felt himself almost lose it, but he continued, “This isn’t going to last forever and you’re going to have all of your aunts and uncles with you if you ever get sad or angry about anything. I love you,” at that, Y/n was finally pulled off of him and he was shoved into the backseat.

Penelope held a crying Y/n in her arms and started the walk to her car, a few tears escaping her own eyes as well.

Emily got into the passenger seat of the SUV and glanced at Spencer through the side-view mirror. He finally let himself cry. 

She didn’t know how long period would last or if they were even gonna find whoever framed him, but she had to have hope that everything was going to turn out fine for all of the Reids.


	2. Family Values

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> JJ has to figure out the best way to talk to Y/n after the arraignment.

“You have to eat something, Y/n,” Emily nudged the tired girl to choose what she wanted for breakfast. They both knew what today was, but they weren’t going to address the elephant in the room just yet. Since Penelope had to join the team on their case, Emily gladly took Y/n in for the next few days until they returned, which was supposed to be today. Why? Today was the arraignment for Reid. The day where he would either be back in their lives until the trial or worse outcomes that nobody was prepared to discuss.

“Waffles,” she said quietly. Emily took two frozen waffles out of the box and popped them in the toaster. The past few days were difficult for both of them, between Emily’s attempts at helping Reid out with his lawyer and Y/n being passed around from house to house. They were exhausted and simply wanted all of it to be over.

“After you eat, I have to drop you off at Henry’s house for the rest of the day.” she spoke softly, not to raise any alarm. She debated in her head whether to tell her what was really going to happen today, give her false hope in telling her that she might see her dad come home today. None of this should be happening to a child, let alone an adult. 

Y/n said her goodbyes to Emily and spent the day with Henry, his brother, and his dad. Even though she was a little bit older than him, they got along just fine. She would rather spend time with Jack, who was closer in age, but he and his dad were on a secret mission. At least, that’s what her dad told her. Hearing that gave her hope that maybe she would have the opportunity to go on a mission with her dad, maybe see him in action. That thought wasn’t as likely to happen anymore, considering the circumstances.

All Y/n knew about today was that it very important and Emily was stressing out about it. She tried to push that anxiety away for the time being and enjoy this shred of normalcy that she had right now. She always had a lot of fun with Will and Henry, so today should be no different.

It wasn’t until JJ returned that the bubble of complete denial burst. Henry and Y/n were playing up in his room and Will was cleaning in the kitchen. He could tell that she’d been crying and tried her best to hide it if she ran into the kids. She fell into Will’s arms. “I’m taking that it didn’t go well?” 

She shook her head, “We tried so hard and he didn’t even get the option for bail. What am I supposed to tell Y/n?” How she ended up having to be the one to give the bad news, she didn’t know and she hated it. WIll just comforted her, not saying anything. 

Henry and Y/n could be heard walking closer to the kitchen area. He apparently wanted to show her the cool squeak that the cabinet made when you opened it. They needed to fix that. It broke JJ’s heart to see Y/n, almost enough for her to not even tell her what was going on. Maybe ignorance was bliss in this situation. No, she was going to do this.

“Y/n, can I see you for a second?” she nodded, walking around the kitchen island. JJ picked her up and placed her on one of the stools, she sat down on her own stool as well. Will made up an excuse to take Henry out of the room. “Do you know how Emily said that there was a really important thing she had to go to today?”

Y/n nodded, remembering the stress of this morning and how long it took Emily to get ready in the morning. “Well, we had to go to the courthouse. Your dad, he had to talk to a judge. The judge was going to decide where he lived for the next few weeks.” Her words were slow and she hoped that she wasn’t simplifying the whole arraignment too much.

“What did the judge say?” there was a glimmer of hope in her eyes that JJ would say that he could live at the apartment with her. She was sure that her dad would be okay, if not better off, staying with her. 

“The judge said that he had to live at a jail for a little while.” she pushed some hair back behind Y/n’s ear. JJ could tell that something wasn’t clicking, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

“Can’t he just…move back home?” Maybe she hadn’t used the right words. Maybe she should’ve just outright told Y/n the truth. Surely she understood how the court system worked with how smart she was…

“Um, he can’t. The judge thinks that he might run away, so he has to stay there for a while,” she spoke softly. There were times in JJ’s life where her skills as a profiler came in handy and this was certainly one of those times. She discreetly studied Y/n’s behavior, each shift in her seating position, and deep breath she took. She was clearly distraught and trying to process the information given to her. “Maybe, we’ll be able to visit him soon.”

She perked up at that statement. “Really?”

JJ nodded, “Soon. But right now, I think you should get a good night’s sleep.” In her heart, she knew that she was not exactly telling the truth, but as long as it made her feel better at this moment, that would be okay. She would cross that bridge when she came to it.

Y/n sat upright in her bed once she was left alone. The main light was turned off, but there was the glow of the moon from outside that made its way in. She thought of Spencer and if he was seeing that same moon wherever he was sleeping. Then, she thought of Diana. The older woman must’ve been so lonely without both of them with her and just the caretaker. 

It was eight o’clock, surely she would still be awake at this time. Y/n wondered if she could successfully sneak out and visit her. The window was close to the ground and the route from JJ’s house to her apartment was one that she had memorized. It was only two blocks away and walking that distance would be easy.

That would be the plan. She hopped out of bed and slipped on her shoes, tying them as tight as she could. She put on a jacket and opened the window. The fall was very short and she didn’t get hurt jumping from it and onto the soft grass below. She walked up to the street and made her left, the first of 3 turns she had to make.

The street was quieter than it usually was, but then again it was nighttime. Y/n wasn’t allowed to go outside at night, especially when she wasn’t with an adult. This time, however, was different because she knew where she was going, or at least that’s what she said to justify everything.

She made the second turn, which was a right. This was the street that they lived on, only their building was a long walk from the street she was currently on. The last turn would be a right into her building. Then she would just have to make it up the stairs and into the door of their apartment.

A car drove by going exceptionally fast and Y/n finally realized what she was really doing. She was alone in the dark without any access to a phone. Fear surged through her and she started to walk faster. She just had to prove to herself that she was brave enough to do this by herself.

The feeling of relief that she felt when she finally pushed through the doors of her building was immense. She was safe as long as she was here. She proudly walked up the stairs and knocked on the door of her apartment. Waiting a few seconds, she contemplated whether or not to knock again.

The door opened, revealing Diana. She let Y/n in and closed the door shut, looking suspiciously outside beforehand. She pulled the girl into a hug and knelt down to her. “You’re actually here! I thought that the government finally took you away as a way to get to me.” She whispered, panic in her tone. Y/n was a little confused, she never mentioned anything about the government before. Yes, she was manic sometimes and talked about crazy things, but never to her specifically. “Don’t worry, I won’t let her take you away again.”

“Who’s ‘her’?” she whispered back, now worried about someone out to get her.

“That caretaker! I never see her in the act, but I know something’s up with her,” she brought Y/n into her room and locked the door behind her. The night caretaker would be coming in anytime soon and Diana wouldn’t let her near her granddaughter. 

That night, Y/n fell asleep to the dulcet sounds of Diana reading a book of poetry to her. At that moment, all of her troubles seemed to disappear and she felt right where she needed to be. 

While Y/n had a peaceful night, it caused JJ to nearly have a panic attack when she walked into her room in the morning to find nobody and an open window. Her first instinct was to assume that she’d been kidnapped by whoever was framing Spence and the fact that Mr. Scratch was a possible suspect scared her even more. Spence would never forgive her if she left his only child get hurt, especially by Peter Lewis.

She ran to Will, “Y/n’s not in her room and the window was open and I,” she couldn’t process full sentences right now.

Luckily for JJ, Will was always the voice of reason in horrific situations. Hell, he was kidnapped and almost blown up and he was way too calm about it all. “Have you checked the whole house?” She nodded. He thought for a moment, thinking about the times that he was called to find children that simply ran away from home. “The apartment isn’t too far from here, maybe she walked home?”

That was definitely a good idea. Children usually go to a safe space when they’re scared and what’s more comfortable than their own home? JJ grabbed her car keys from the dresser and kissed Will on the cheek, “You’re right, she and Spence walk from there all the time. She’d know the route. I’ll check there now.”

The ride from her own house to the apartment building was short but filled with anxiety. If she didn’t find Y/n in that apartment, there was no telling where she could be or who she was with. She ran up the stairs and used her key to open the front door. “Y/n?” she called out, looking around the room for any sign of the girl.

Y/n walked out of her room’s door and JJ felt the relief wash over her. She was safe. “What were you thinking? You know how dangerous it is to go anywhere on your own, even worse at night and without telling anyone! You had me worried sick, I thought something happened to you!” 

Getting a lecture wasn’t something that Y/n was a stranger to, but it was a lot scarier when it came from the usually nice JJ. She couldn’t stop herself from letting tears slip from her eyes. “I…I didn’t want her to be lonely.”

JJ instantly felt a little guilty for yelling, but it needed to be said so that it doesn’t happen again. If there was anything that Spence passed down to Y/n, it was her compassion towards others. Even though she was having a really hard time trying to process everything, she still made time to think about Diana. 

JJ wasn’t even sure if the two got along due to how much Spence told her amount Y/n hating the idea of him bringing Diana home. Maybe that was just the girl not wanting her dad to go through more stress than he usually was under. “I know you meant well, but you can’t just run away like that. Bad things can happen if you do.” Y/n nodded, understanding. “I’m gonna take you with me to work and you can hang out with Penelope, okay?”

Y/n grabbed JJ’s hand and they walked out together. JJ knew that it would be difficult to take care of Y/n, but she didn’t know it would be like this.


	3. Deep Questions, Shallow Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> reader acts up in school and garcia has to deal with the consequences of being a godmother; garcia visits reid

After a few weeks, Y/n had to return to school as if everything was back to normal. It wasn’t normal and her dad was still in prison, but she was expected to act as nothing happened at all. She almost completely tuned out of the discussion that they were having in the history portion of the daily lesson. She wondered what her dad could be doing at the prison, not like she knew anything about them. Maybe he was making friends and teaching them about things like he always did with her.

She asked Garcia what it was like to live in a prison, but she didn’t really get a solid answer. Maybe she could ask her teacher and he could explain it to her. He seemed to know a lot. The only person that always explained things to her was her dad and with him, unavailable, she didn’t know who she could go to.

She was too lost in her own thoughts to hear her teacher calling her name repetitively. She snapped out of it and looked to the front of the class, “What?”

“We lost you there, the question was: What was the last conversation you had with your parent?” How lucky she was to have the main discussion in class to be about parents when she didn’t even know if she was going to have one ever again. Was this karma for something she did wrong or just some horrible coincidence?

The whole class turned in their seats to look at her. She was usually okay with being singled out in class, but this was one of those times when she really didn’t want to answer the question. Of course, she knew the last conversation she had with her dad, how could anyone forget that traumatic experience? “Um,” she played with her hands under the desk.

“Come on, we don’t have all day,” the short temper on her teacher wasn’t new, but this time, it got to her. She felt as if all of the anger and frustration that she’s been holding in for the past few weeks was bubbling up and ready to explode out of her.

She slammed her hands on her desk and stood up, “That’s none of your business! Why do you feel the need to always single me out and try to pry into my personal life because you think it’s interesting!” she was seething. She tried to think of words that she heard Garcia use when she was angry at someone, knowing the colorful vocabulary that matched her colorful outward appearance, especially the ones that got her in trouble with Spencer. “You’re just a…a stupid bitch!”

Y/n was definitely not the kind of kid that yelled or threw tantrums, mostly because she knew that they never got her anywhere with her dad, but there was no other way that she felt that she could express her emotions. There were assorted gasps and giggles from around the classroom by the other students. 

Her teacher stood there with his lips pursed. He hid his shock and confusion. “Principal’s office, now.” Her anger was clouding her judgment and seemed to take over all of her controls. She grabbed her bag and rushed out of the room, a designated “messenger” from her class following her to make sure she actually went where she was supposed to, and give the principal the disciplinary issue written down on a card.

She plopped down on one of the seats outside of the office, angrily saying things under her breath. It was about time that someone put that guy in his place, now he wouldn’t be rude anymore. She was doing the right thing and getting in trouble for it, like Luke Skywalker or something. 

When Garcia got a call from a number she didn’t know with the DC area code on her personal cell, she was apprehensive about answering it. When she answered and a woman said that she was from Y/n’s school, the possibilities about what could’ve happened to Y/n started flowing in her brain. “Yes, I’m Penelope Garcia, her godmother. Is everything okay?” 

She stood up and paced around the room while on the call. “You need me to come in and talk about behavior? Are you sure we’re talking about Y/n Reid?” She was already grabbing her things and leaving her lair to go and settle whatever this was. She was sure that they got it wrong, but she was a responsible godparent that would show up. It’s not like Derek, her godfather, could show up and be there, though he absolutely would at the drop of a hat. “I’ll be there in about twenty minutes, goodbye.”

She rushed through the office and headed for the door. Rossi stopped her, alarmed at her sudden panicking. The case was over and all they had to do was wait for the rest of the team to return. “Hey, breathe. What’s wrong?” 

“Y/n’s in trouble at school and I have to go in and talk to the principal about her behavior,” she shook her head, still barely believing the words that came out of her mouth. They were talking about the same little girl that wrote a five-page apology paper to Morgan after she accidentally broke his coffee mug. 

“Do you need any moral support, I can tell Hotch that it was an emergency,” he had a little experience being a dad, not much, but it counted for something. 

Garcia shook her head, “I think I’ll be okay, this is Y/n we’re talking about. How bad could it possibly be?”

“Maybe you can bring her back here and she can spend some time with her favorite uncle,” he smirked. 

“Morgan’s still in Chicago, though.” 

“Why do you hurt me?” She took that chance to leave for the school. She never liked getting sent to the principal’s office when she was in school, so she imagined that feeling was universal.

Garcia figured that this was definitely connected to the stress she was under and the grief she felt. Y/n would never act out in school if she knew she had to deal with Spencer being the one to pick her up. She wasn’t sure if she could handle being the bad guy and parenting Y/n, but this was inevitable considering the circumstances.

Her outfit earned judging looks from the older secretaries, but that wasn’t something she wasn’t used to. “I got a call about Y/n Reid, the principal needed to speak with me.” She asked the lady that sat closest to the door. The ladies were confused and disappointed that they didn’t get a chance to see their favorite hot, single dad, Dr. Spencer Reid. The day that he dated someone would be doomsday for the elementary school staff.

“Where is Dr. Reid? Are you his wife?” One of the secretaries asked her. She almost laughed, she couldn’t possibly imagine dating the good doctor. Sure, Penelope loved him and would do anything for him. Marry him? A big no-no.

“Oh, no. I’m Y/n’s godmother. And Dr. Reid is,” she thought for a moment. She wasn’t about to say prison, “out of the country.” That was a little true, at some point a few weeks ago he WAS out of the country.

Garcia was shown the way to the principal’s office. Opening the door, she was met with the principal and a very pissed off Y/n. She sat down in front of the desk and Y/n was told to sit outside of the room again. She was not ready to deal with any of this…

“Ms. Garcia, I’m sure you’re aware of why I asked you here today. Y/n said some…harsh things directed at her teacher. She’s never had any behavioral issues before and I couldn’t get a hold of Dr. Reid, so I’d like to ask if there’s anything happening in the home that might be affecting her,” that was surely a loaded question. 

Garcia nervously chuckled and turned on her “serious” voice, “Y/n’s going through a lot right now regarding her home life. You know where her dad and I work, so you can expect the danger that it may present. He’s being targeted by someone we’ve been following and things got really complicated really fast.” She tried to tiptoe around the whole getting arrested and put into prison part of the dilemma. 

“Our guidance department is thoroughly equipped to handle difficult situations with the students. We have dealt with children with parents that have been incarcerated before and it’s recommended that she see someone before more incidents like this happen,” he slid a pamphlet across the desk to her. It read: So, your parent is in jail. It was pretty blunt if Garcia has any say in the matter. She was more occupied with how he knew about Reid being in prison. They all tried their hardest to keep that news concealed between themselves.

“How did you know-” she started, before getting cut off by the principal.

“My husband was working in the court that day. I wouldn’t mention it unless it was having an effect on Y/n and it seems like that’s the case here.” He was right, Y/n never liked talking about her feelings that much unless they were good.

Maybe that was genetic, or it was the fact that their job was filled with constant despair that she didn’t want to bother them with her mediocre problems. She put it on her mental list to have a real sit-down talk with Y/n about her feelings and if she wanted to see a therapist. “Thank you for keeping it quiet. I’m sure you have a lot of important school stuff to do, so I’ll just take Y/n home and talk about everything,” she paused, “Might I ask, what did she say?”

Y/n didn’t hear anything from inside of the principal’s office, as much as she tried to snoop. He was probably going on about how she was a horrible student and should be expelled. Garcia would have her back and defend her, though. She could always trust Garcia to be on her side and chew out anything that wronged her.

Her head turned to the door when it finally opened, Penelope walking out. She held out her hand for Y/n, “Let’s go, peanut.” Her anger was gone, or at least pushed back down again, and she happily left with her godmother.

The once legendary “Garcia drives” were now rare to have, this one being quiet once again not counting the music from the radio. This ride felt all too familiar than the one she had a few weeks ago, and we all know how that turned out.

Now, Y/n sat with Garcia in the office that was once Morgan’s. The tech analyst was going to be the godmother of a century and have a talk, hopefully, it would end well. “I know things can be really confusing and you’re feeling things that you can’t explain, just know that you can always come to me to talk about it.” 

Y/n pursed her lips, understanding what was about to happen. “Is there anything? Perhaps a reason why you lost your temper in class today?” Penelope was too sweet to have this conversation, there’s a clear reason why she always dubbed herself the nice aunt.

As much as Y/n wanted to avoid this conversation, she figured that it was happening whether she liked it or not. She huffed, “He’s rude.” 

“What did he say?” At least she was cooperating, that was a good step. 

“He always singles me out whenever he asks a question and I was over it. I didn’t want to answer his dumb question,” she crossed her arms, “Or yours, either.”

This was the part where she projected her frustrations on the first person she saw. Unfortunately, that was Penelope. “Honey, I know you’re having a hard time. We just want to help you.” She reached to rub her back, but Y/n scooted over.

“Help me? Talking about my feelings isn’t helping anyone! I don’t need any of you trying to profile me!” Y/n’s yelling voice was a little scary if Garcia was being honest. She’s never heard it before, and she wasn’t sure if it was ever used before.

“None of us are profiling-” she tried getting a word in, but Y/n wasn’t done with her rant.

“I don’t even want any of you! I want my dad!” her eyes welled with tears, “How am I supposed to believe he’s even alive when I haven’t seen or heard anything!”

Rossi heard the faint voice coming from the office down the hall and wondered if he should interfere or anything. He knew how Penelope was when she got in trouble but was this situation the same? Despite a faint voice in his head arguing against it, he walked towards the office where they were.

He peered in, seeing a very distraught Penelope trying to reason with and console the very pissed off Y/n. This definitely called for the not-so-old but reliable mediator that was David Rossi. 

He opened the door to clearly hear everything being said, “Well? Is he? Or have you all been lying to me this whole time?”

Penelope, unable to keep it all together, managed to answer the question, “We would never lie to you like that, Y/n. He’s alive and he loves you so much,” Rossi put a hand on her shoulder for comfort.

“Prove it.” 

Emily and the rest of the team walked into the bau, only to be met with a crying Penelope Garcia. Her first thoughts went to Reid and she hoped that her brain was just playing evil tricks on her. They all ran to comfort her and ask her what happened.

“Y/n’s having a hard time and she’s taking it out on whoever’s closest. Rossi’s in with her now,” the colorful appearance of her clothes seemed to be a direct contrast of her mood. It was strange. She looked up at Emily, “I’m gonna visit him today. I want to see him.”

Emily nodded, understanding. “Make sure he’s okay.”

~~~

Penelope hated prisons. They were even worse when she knew that her boy genius was left to rot in one. She was apprehensive as she waited for him and the other inmates to come into the room for visiting hours. All she wanted was to see him alive, Y/n’s words getting to her.

Her heart dropped when she finally saw him. He had bruises everywhere and it was as if his usual bright presence was nowhere to be found. “Spencer, what did they do to you?” She wanted to touch his cheek and tell him that it would all be okay, but she couldn’t do either.

“I’m okay, Garcia. Have you been crying?” She should’ve done more to cover that up. Even locked up, he was still a master profiler. 

She was more than ready to spill her guts about everything that’s happened and her own guilt, but he really didn’t need to hear that. “Yeah, you know how I get allergies.” 

He raised a brow, that was a total lie. “You can tell me. Was it a case? I’d like something to think about other than…you know.” he faintly smiled. He was hurting, but it would be nice to hear about someone else’s hurt for once.

“It wasn’t a case. We just finished a case, actually. Y/n’s been acting out at school and I tried to talk to her about it,” his eyes softened at the mention of his daughter, “she chewed me out.”

“I’m so sorry,” he didn’t mean for any of this to happen. He didn’t even think of how much this would affect Y/n. He almost felt guilty, like he was too busy to be a parent.

“You have nothing to be sorry for. She just misses you. We all do,” he ran a hand through his hair. Garcia noticed the small wince from him that he tried to hide, she couldn’t even begin to imagine what they were doing to him in there.

“No, I shouldn’t have taken that risk in the first place. How’s my mom?” He knew how to change a subject well, maybe he was practicing it a little more in there. It was better to go on with the new topic rather than pry further.

“She’s been good. She actually started reading poetry to Y/n. And the caretaker, Cassie, she’s wonderful,” It’s been a while since Spencer heard any good news, it was almost a foreign concept to him. “By the way, did you get the letters we sent you?”

The letters, the ones that he would hide under his mattress so that nobody could take them away from him. He read them over every day when he woke up and right before he tried to go to sleep, even if sleep was a rare occurrence. He loved those letters, up until he returned to his cell one day to find the space he hid them in completely empty. He tore up the cell that night. “I did, thank you.” 

The time that they were allowed to talk was cut short. All Garcia wanted to do was hear him go on about some random type of bird or whatever he thought about. For the first time in a very long time, Spencer Reid was quiet.


	4. Raining on the Parade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> reader gets a surprise phone call from spencer, but the surprises keep on coming…

If Emily Prentiss was anything, resourceful would be on top of that list. Well, when it came to helping the people she loved, that is. Both of the Reids were definitely on her list of people she’d do anything for, having known the older one for ten years and watching the younger one grow up.

Upon hearing the about destructive behavior that Y/n was beginning to show, she knew that it would become her mission to do something to help her get through it. The question was, what was she going to do?

It only took her one day to figure out her plan and the next few to negotiate with a bunch of people that she had some leverage over, but her plan was in motion by the end of the week. She was watching Y/n and found it rather difficult to keep such a big secret from the girl, especially when she rejected any conversation that Emily tried to start.

When she felt the buzz of her phone in her pocket, her smile grew. It was finally time. She accepted the call, “This is Emily Prentiss.” The voice on the other line explained the rules of the phone call to her and she understood. 

She walked over to where Y/n was working on some absurd math problem that Emily couldn’t understand. “Hey, I have a very special person on the phone that wants to talk to you,” she waved the phone in front of the girl.

Y/n raised a brow, “Who?”

She handed the phone over, “Find out yourself.”

She hesitantly took the phone and put it up to her ear. The person on the other line said something and Y/n’s eyes went wide. She grinned, something Emily thought she was incapable of doing anymore. “Hi daddy,” she said, almost not believing that she was actually talking to him. It was like when your parent would “call” Santa Claus and it would end up being a grandparent on the other end of the phone. “Is it really you?”

“Yeah, it’s really me. How have you been?” It felt a little weird to have small talk with someone you used to see every day. Spencer didn’t care that much, though. He was actually talking to Y/n for the first time in all too long and he was okay with that.

“Good,” she didn’t know what to say to him. Was she supposed to tell him about everything that happened after he left? Surely they didn’t have enough time to unpack all of that. It was like talking to a ghost.

“Are you sure? A little bird told me that you got in trouble at school,” of course he brought that up, she could never get a break from that. 

“Well, that bird needs to learn how to keep a secret. The average person keeps about 13 secrets at a time, you know,” she absentmindedly paced around the room while she talked. Emily watched from the other room, feeling warm.

Spencer felt himself smile, “I didn’t know that. Is there anything else you’ve been keeping from me?” Everything about this was wrong, he shouldn’t even be in this situation. He already partially missed a lot from her life, but this was straight-up no contact.

“No,” she stretched the word out, “What about you? Did you make any friends?” She didn’t know much about the prison system, which is completely understandable for a kid her age. All she knew was that it was where bad people were taken after her dad caught them. She hoped that he didn’t end up with any of those guys, they were totally bad news.

He shifted against the wall he was leaning against. He didn’t really prepare for this. “Me? I actually did make a friend, but he…left.” The guard that was in the room with him tapped his watch and he knew he had to wrap it up. “Look, this isn’t going to last forever. I promise you that.” The speed of his words went up. “I need you to know that I love you.”

Y/n nodded, and then remembered that he couldn’t see her actions through the phone. “I know. And I love you, too.” She was about to say more, but a new voice interrupted her, asking to give the phone back to Emily. 

The call only lasted for five minutes. Perhaps the shortest five minutes in her life, she finally got a sense of normalcy. For a moment, she imagined that he was simply away on a case rather than where he actually was. 

Emily was crushed to see the phone handed back to her and the warden speak through the device again. Five minutes was better than nothing and she could already see the change in Y/n’s mood. She was sure that Spence was okay, even if Emily knew the full extent of his predicament and that he most definitely wasn’t. Whatever made her feel a little bit better was good enough.

The rest of the day went smoothly and Y/n actually rambled on about some statistics she read about the other day. Emily wondered if this was a good luck sign and everything really was going to end well for the bau and Reid. For the first time in a while, she had a good day.

~~~

Y/n wasn’t hyped to return to school and she tried to protest to Emily that she didn’t need to go, but since she was already walking through the doors, she lost that argument. She walked into her classroom and sat down in her seat. Her desk, that was normally filled with loose papers with equations and her books, was empty. She looked around for her things, finding nothing.

A strange woman was standing at the front of the classroom next to her teacher. The woman noticed Y/n’s staring and walked up to her. “Y/n Reid? Grab your things and we can talk in the hallway.” She was hesitant but followed the woman out anyway. Nothing like this had happened before to any of her classmates. Maybe it was because she misbehaved? Did they really go that far for discipline?

She followed the woman into the hallway and to the guidance counselor’s office. Before today, Y/n didn’t even know they have a guidance counselor. If they were gonna make her talk about her feelings, she was definitely going to walk out.

The woman sat down in a chair and gestured for Y/n to sit in the one across from her. She sighed and reluctantly sat down. She opened a file and then looked back up, “There are a lot of things that we can’t control in life, you know. Sometimes the things that we can’t control are the most overwhelming things to deal with. It’s okay to feel angry and sad because of it.”

Y/n shook her head, “What are you even talking about?”

The woman exhaled, “Your father died this morning.” Damn, she really didn’t sugarcoat it.

Y/n felt like the wind was knocked out of her. How could he be…? She just talked to him yesterday! “That’s not true. You’re lying!” The speechless feeling she had suddenly turned into a lot of words and she wasn’t afraid to scream them.

The somber expression on her face told Y/n all that she needed to know. She still didn’t believe it, this was all just some sick joke being played on her. She doubted his living status before, but she knew that deep down he was still alive, and that feeling was still there. Rossi always said that you should follow your gut and her gut told her that he was alive, no matter what this lady told her.

“I’ve arranged for you to live with your closest living relative that agreed to take you in. The plane leaves in three hours, so we’re going to stop by your apartment and get essentials beforehand.” It was like she was reading off of a script and didn’t care about how much this was effecting Y/n. Her whole world was collapsing on top of her.

“Wait, why am I going on a plane? My godmother lives right here in DC. Am I going to Morgan’s?” the thought of seeing Morgan didn’t even excite her as it usually did. She loved seeing him, but not in this situation. She didn’t want him to be her dad.

“We are flying to Las Vegas. More specifically, Summerlin.” Y/n didn’t know anyone that she was related to that lived there. Diana used to live in Vegas, but she lived here now. She got up and motioned for Y/n to follow. She didn’t move. She simply sat in the chair and stared at the floor. “Sitting in that chair isn’t going to bring him back, now come on.”

Y/n’s wet eyes went wide in shock and her jaw dropped. How could she say something like that? Wasn’t there a protocol for social workers to not try to traumatize the children? Her knees shook as she stood up and wobbled to the door, following the lady. Her entire body seemed to tremble and she couldn’t stop it.

She couldn’t avoid the looks of pity from the office staff as she walked past them to leave the building. When they found out, they were crushed. That girl went through enough and now she had to go through it completely alone.

Y/n cried through the ride to her apartment and the lady she was with was unbothered, annoyed even. She packed enough clothes to last her a few days along with a Blu-ray copy of Inception, a film that she and her dad would watch all the time and discuss the possibility of the technology being real and of course, the ending. 

She took the copy of The Narrative of John Smith that Maeve gave to her dad before she died. She knew how much it meant to him and would much rather have it in her possession than it to end up in some storage or a Goodwill. 

The last thing that she grabbed was a framed photo of Spencer, her, and Diana. It was from a trip to France that they took not too long ago. She remembered how much fun it was and how normal they all felt together. Even Diana didn’t seem to be struggling with her illness.

She carefully placed the items in her bag and zipped it up. She wondered where Diana was. At this time, she would’ve been home if she was adhering to her normal schedule. Maybe she wanted a change?

Y/n sighed, taking one last look at the place she called home for her entire life. Memories would flow back to her wherever she looked. She was pulled out of the room and her memories by the social worker. The door shut in her face, not even giving her a chance for a proper goodbye.

Next thing that Y/n knew, she was on a plane that was headed in the opposite direction from all of the people she knew and loved. Nothing about this felt right. Why didn’t she get a proper goodbye? Why was everything so urgent? Certainly, the system wasn’t this bad for every child that lost a parent. At least Y/n hoped not. 

She leaned over to the woman, who was still acting like this was an inconvenience to her, “Is there going to be a funeral?” she asked quietly. She turned her head to the girl and shook her head.

That was a cue for Y/n to let her tears fall again. Not only was her dad dead, but he wasn’t even going to be a funeral. Everything about this felt wrong. He was a respected FBI agent and even if he was in prison, he should get a funeral. What were they going to do with the body? Was did the team think about it?

She wanted to call Garcia or JJ or anyone from the bau, but the social worker said that it would be better for the healing process if she didn’t use her phone. By that, she meant that she was taking her phone and not giving it back. It’s not like the device was that useful, it was able to call and text people only.

Y/n felt like she was the most unlucky girl in the world right now. Worst of all, she didn’t even know who the hell she was going to be living with.

That mystery was solved once they arrived at the airport in Vegas. She clutched the strap of her backpack and followed the social worker through the crowded terminal. She was obviously looking for someone and Y/n wished she could help if she was actually told who it was. They stopped in front of an older-looking man that gave Y/n the same pity look she’d been getting the entire day. He looked distressed himself.

He dropped to Y/n’s height. “My name’s Will Reid. Your dad was my son.”

~~~

Spencer Reid was not dead. Not by a longshot. He may have death threats against him, but he was very much alive and kicking. 

However, Spencer Reid was not safe or even remotely okay. He finally pieced together what happened in Mexico after his mother visited him and the person that attacked him currently had his mother. He was now a hot target for the other inmates because someone blew his cover. On top of all of that, he was denied protection from the guards.

He met with Emily to tell her everything he knew. That would be enough for them to build a proper case that showed that he was framed and he could be free and save his mom. The thing that kept him sane was the fact that Y/n was safe.

Prison made you do things you never thought of doing in your normal life, Spencer learned very quickly. He now sat in solitary confinement after stabbing himself in the thigh. Sacrifices needed to be made for the option of safety and he just needed to keep himself alive for a little while longer.

~~~

Garcia had panic written all over her face when she returned to the bau later in the day. She was supposed to pick Y/n up from school and bring her in for her own protection. The minute she walked through those doors alone, they knew there was a bigger problem.

Emily caught up with her and tried to slow her hyperventilating, “Penelope, what’s wrong? Where’s Y/n?”

She shook her head. Her bracelets jingled around her arms, “They told me a social worker came this morning and left with her. I think she’s with Lindsey.”


	5. Red Herring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> with diana and y/n missing, reid and the bau are on a mission to save them before time runs out

Getting released from prison wasn’t the most satisfying thing for Spencer. A huge threat was gone, but he still dealt with a psychopath that had his mother. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how she felt, how scared she must be right now. 

He and JJ were preparing to go back to his apartment to grab some things while the rest of the bau worked the case. “Does this mean I’ll be able to see Y/n?” JJ paused, millions of excuses ran through her head but she couldn’t lie to him about that.

She turned to him with a look of pity, “Spence, we have reason to believe that Lindsey also has her. I’m so sorry,” for a moment there, JJ could hear his heart break in half. She and Scratch took the two most important people in his life away, what could he possibly do next?

“That doesn’t make any sense. If Lindsey took my mother to see me, then where was–” everything clicked. If Lindsey and Scratch were working together and his mom was with her, then all they needed to do to find Y/n was to find him. Certainly, he had some sense of morality to not hurt kids, right?

He was briefed on the way back to his apartment and he was beyond angry. His apartment looked the same, almost. Little things were moved and missing in the main room, and the scrapbook was open on the coffee table. He analyzed the picture that he made as a child and flipped it over, revealing the message written in black marker. “This must be referring to her and Scratch working together.”

JJ took a picture of the message as Spencer got up to observe more of the apartment. She then looked at the bookshelf where there was an obvious hole where a book should’ve been. “Hey, Spence?” she called. He walked out of Y/n’s room and met with her again. “What book was here?”

She pointed to the hole and he thought for a moment, “The Narrative of John Smith? It’s the book that Maeve gave me on our first date.” He looked back in the direction of her room.

“What are you thinking?” JJ followed him around in his investigation.

“All of my mom’s things are still here like she was going out for the day. Y/n’s room is missing clothes and her favorite movie which makes me believe that she knew that she was going somewhere,” what he didn’t understand was why Scratch would tell her that she was going to be somewhere else? It would be much easier to abduct a child like her when he’s had so much experience successfully abducting adults.

“I’ll tell Emily, let’s go.”

~~~

One thing that Y/n learned in the day and a half that she spent with William Reid was that he was absolutely nothing like Spencer Reid. Maybe it was the grief of losing his only son and the regret of not raising him like he should’ve, Y/n wouldn’t know.

She stayed in a spare room that he had set up for guests and limited how much she spoke to him. She started to read Spencer’s book for the first time last night and was interrupted by him walking into her room. 

“Isn’t that a little mature for you? Or are you another reading genius?” his laugh was almost silent. It was about time that he man up and try to be a better father figure to this girl, maybe he decided this a little too early considering the circumstances, but he would plant the seeds at least.

Y/n looked up from the book and at the man. “This was dad’s favorite. I wanted to see if it was good.” His favorite was a stretch, more like it was the only thing that reminded him of Maeve and all of the good parts of that relationship. The only thing that she touched and wrote in that he owned.

William could barely process the fact that she was calling his son, “dad”. He was a grandfather and he only heard of Y/n’s existence once before when they were investigating the Riley Jenkins case. He didn’t push to meet her when he knew Spencer didn’t even want to see him in the first place. “He was a good father, Spencer?” she nodded, going back to reading. At least he didn’t repeat the cycle of absentee fathers that the Reids were known for. He was way too smart to fall into that scheme, but the universe had different ideas. “How about tomorrow, I’ll take you on a tour of where he grew up.”

“I’m okay,” she really just wanted him to leave before any emotions started to peak through the wall she built. She continued reading the same page over and over again until he got the idea and left. She should not be here, everything was wrong about this entire situation. She cried herself to sleep, clutching the book in her arms.

~~~

All previous theories were thrown out of a window when Cat Adams revealed herself. Spencer stood outside of the interrogation room of the women’s prison with JJ, calming himself down before he went in. He was going to get out of this and everyone was going to be okay, that’s for sure.

JJ watched as they began their game, hoping that Reid knew what he was doing. She thought of Henry and Michael, what she would’ve done if they were missing. She probably wouldn’t be able to control herself in the way that he could. She only hoped that nobody was hurt, that would crush him more than prison ever could.

She ran through the facts of the case that they currently had:

a) Cat and Lindsey are working together and they were the ones that framed Spence

b) Diana was definitely with Lindsey, wherever she could be

c) Y/n was not with Lindsey, but she definitely couldn’t be with Scratch

She directed her attention back to the two in the interrogation room. He narrowed down the topic of conversation to be about love, specifically their love. Cat denied it, of course, but she had bigger tricks up her sleeve, “I couldn’t have you come all the way down here and make a guess until I was positive. That is… until I tested positive,” she rested her hands on her stomach.

JJ’s jaw dropped, she couldn’t possibly be pregnant, let alone with Spencer’s child. She called for Cat’s medical report and watched the conversation unfold. “You’re pregnant?” he questioned.

Cat was smiling and JJ was unsure of whether it was genuine or just another part of her psychotic plan to break Spencer down. “We’re pregnant!” He shook his head, this was the oldest trick in the female serial killer book and she would be the last one to fall victim to that overused trope. “Don’t you think it’s about time for Y/n to have a sibling?”

“You don’t get to say her name,” his words were laced with anger. How dare she endanger a child–his child–and have the audacity to talk about her.

“And why not? It’s not like she’s some super genius like you. Not to mention the countless times you’ve missed important things in her life, it feels like I’ve paid more attention to her than you,” Reid’s analytical brain was telling him that all of this was just gaslighting and she didn’t know anything about his relationship with his child, but his heart was ready to scream that she was wrong.

“You don’t know anything about her and the baby that you’re carrying isn’t mine,” he spoke in the most monotone voice he possibly could.

“It is though,” she laughed, “Wanna know how I did it?”

~~~

Tara and Luke arrived at the elementary school just before the office staff was leaving. All they needed to know was who took Y/n and if they said where they were going. The older women were confused when they flashed their badges, but they were a little more interested in checking out Luke. The bau had an endless supply of eye candy, apparently.

“A social worker came to bring Y/n to a new home. I believe her name was Amber,” one of the secretaries spoke, gathering her things to leave.

“How much did you remember her face? Do you have cameras that we can access?” Luke hoped that this was a school that actually installed cameras instead of fake ones that only scared the students into behaving.

“We do have footage from that day and it’s hard to forget something like that when nothing interesting ever happens here,” Tara wanted to tell her off by saying how rude it was to call the potential kidnapping of a child interesting. Even if it was a real social worker, it was wrong. “I can grab the tapes for you.”

They leaned against the desk while the secretary went to retrieve the security footage. Hopefully, Garcia would be able to get a facial recognition match. One of the older secretaries walked up to them, “We’re so sorry to hear about Dr. Reid. It’s always heartwrenching to see innocent children grow up without a parent. My father died when I was a little girl, so I can imagine what Y/n might be feeling.”

Luke and Tara exchanged a glance, “I’m sorry, did you say that Reid was dead?”

The lady shot them a confused look, “The social worker told us that he was dead. Did she lie?”

Luke nodded, “She lied about much more than him being dead.”

Tara walked out of the office and dialed Emily’s number. This was obviously set up to emotionally abuse Y/n by making her believe that her father was dead. The biggest question now was: where did they take Y/n? Upon answering Tara relayed the information, “Apparently a social worker came in and told everyone that Reid died and Y/n was being relocated. I’d have Garcia check if they un-enrolled her from the school and see if she pops up anywhere else in the country.”

Emily had enough anger to punch a hole through the wall that she leaned against, “It sounds like this wasn’t your typical kidnapping. The plan was specifically to get Y/n away from all of us legally. I’ll tell Garcia to start looking, thanks, Tara.” She hung up the phone and joined Luke, who had the security tapes in his hand. Who knew a child would be so hard to find?

~~~

Garcia searched through the entire database of schools to find Y/n while the rest of the team drove back from Lindsey’s cabin with Diana. It was looking to be a dead-end until she finally got a hit. “My baby!” she almost started to cry as her school photo ID popped up on the screen. She was the one that helped Y/n pick out her outfit during picture day.

The school was in Summerlin, Nevada. Garcia saw that it was right next to Vegas and went deeper into the school profile to find out who she was with. She dialed JJ’s number to tell her the good news. “I found Y/n! Or at least where she’s set to go to school.”

JJ held her breath and debated whether or not to put the phone on speaker with Spencer right next to her. “What did you find?” His attention was on her now.

“She’s enrolled in a school in Summerlin, Nevada. I’m looking for emergency contacts now, but they seal this stuff really well,” JJ looked to Spence, who was not-so-subtly waiting for her to tell him the information.

“Who do you know that lives in Summerlin?” she asked him. His brain was working its magic, going through every possible contact that he knew in the area in the exact way that a computer would. He paused and furrowed his brows, “what?”

“My dad lives there,” he shook his head and went back into the interrogation room. Cat smiled upon seeing him, “Did you leave Y/n with my father?”

“How’d you figure it out?” it sickened him that she thought of all of this as a game. She was messing with so many lives.

“My team. Why? Out of everyone in the world, you choose him?” She most likely knew about his spotty history with his dad, it was certainly a sob story. There had to be some deeper meaning to it all, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

She leaned over the table to get closer to him, “I did it because you hate him. There’s some reason why you didn’t even tell him about Y/n and that was good enough for me.” 

~~~

Spencer wished that once he reunited with his mother, then everything would be okay. He made sure that she was okay in an assisted care facility and somehow managed to get the jet for his trip back to get Y/n. What was he going to say? How would he explain this entire situation to her? He was hoping that she wouldn’t need an explanation as long as he was with her again. 

It was morning by the time the jet landed and he couldn’t wait to make things normal again. Garcia gave him the address of his father and he drove there, wondering now what he would say to him. Sorry, I never told you about your granddaughter or visited you in eight years? It’s not like there was a hallmark card for things like these.

He deliberately slowed his pace as he walked to the front door. His knuckle hitting the wooden door brought an unusual amount of anxiety in the pit of his stomach. He waited for an answer, there was a car in the driveway and he assumed that nobody else lived there, so he must be home.

His breath hitched when he saw the door opening and revealing his father. His dad looked at his like he was a ghost, “Spencer.” He crushed Spencer in a hug. “They told me you died.”

Spencer, confused, placed his hands on his dad’s back, attempting to return the hug. “Dad, where’s Y/n?” If he limited their interactions to a minimum, he would be home free. That was the plan.

His dad backed away from the hug, “Why don’t you come in and I can get her?” Spencer looked into his wet eyes and followed him into the small house. 

Y/n heard Will talking to someone and letting them into the house. It was in her blood to investigate whoever was entering the house, for their own safety of course. She’s been here for a few days and was still in the “extremely emotionally damaged and afraid of everyone” phase of grief if that was even a phase. She barely even left her room, what was the point if there was nobody that she wanted to see? 

She slid off of her bed and crept out of the door. She noticed Will and then the figure that stood behind him. Getting a closer look at the man, she felt as if the wind was kicked out of her. Somehow, all 27 emotions were being felt at that very moment, “Dad?”

Y/n shared the same look that his dad had like they saw a ghost. She ran into his arms and held on as tight as she possibly could. She lost him once and there was no way she’d let that happen again. Spencer’s arms shook as he picked Y/n up. It’s been so long since he held her and he felt like he’d hurt her.

“I’m here. For good this time,” he whispered.

Will watched the pair reunite and the guilt returned to him. He wished he could have that kind of relationship with Spencer, but he had to abandon him for his entire life. He wasn’t sure if Spencer still held that hatred towards him and the fact that he never knew about Y/n was a product of forgetfulness, even if he was incapable of forgetting.

Spencer looked at Y/n, “Let’s go home.”


End file.
